It is difficult for many people to hold a urine sample cup effectively to catch their own urine stream flow. It is even more difficult for the elderly, disabled, overweight, pregnant and very young to give urine samples. It is not easy or sanitary for anyone. Trying to catch a “mid-stream” flow multiplies the difficulties. A mid-stream flow refers to a urine sample that does not include the initial portion of a urine stream. In other words, a urine sample taken after the patent has already started urinating. Mid-stream urine samples can be important, since the initial portion of the urine stream may be contaminated.
When patients or sample-givers are faced with the indignity of someone else holding the urine sample cup for them, it sometimes becomes impossible for the patient to pass urine on demand. It is also time consuming, unsanitary and difficult for the nurses.
A “nurse's hat” is a large plastic disposable pot that looks like an upside down hat in which the brim is the funnel and the bowl collects the urine flow. After the urine sample is deposited into the nurse's hat, the nurse pours a portion of the urine into a sample cup. This is time consuming and unsanitary for the nurses and patients. The nurse's hat also becomes a medical waste disposal issue because it is large and bulky and creates a large volume of waste.
The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art.